Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Risen Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Take three pounds of flour, one and a half of pounded sugar, a tea-spoonful of cloves, one of mace, and one of ginger, all finely powdered.
Pass the whole through a sieve.
Put to it four spoonsful of good yeast, and twelve eggs. Mix it up well.
If not sufficiently soft, add a little milk.
Make it up at night, and set it to rise.
Add the enrichments
When well risen, knead into it a pound of butter, and two gills of brandy.
Have ready two pounds of raisins stoned.
Mix all well together.
Bake and cool
Pour it into a mould of proper size.
Bake it in an oven heated as for bread.
Let it stand till thoroughly done.
Do not take it from the mould until quite cold.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 7 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Brandy | not in our table | 0 |
| Mace | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
-
Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,070 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Raisin + gingertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,242 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the cake as it sets in the oven.
- Eggs
- Add richness and help bind and lighten the crumb.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during the rise, making the cake light and airy.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavour.
- Raisins
- Provide sweetness and chewy pockets of fruit throughout the cake.
The step that matters
Let it rise fully before adding the butter and brandy. Yeast needs time to build gas and structure in the dough; adding rich fats and alcohol before the rise is complete can slow it and leave a dense crumb.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, brandy, raisin, butter, egg, clove, ginger):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, brandy, raisin, butter, egg, clove, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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